This is a comparative organizational study of hospital emergency servces. Its main purpose is to analyze the organization and assess the effectiveness of emergency outpatient units (departments, rooms) operated by general hospitals. Aspects of effectiveness being investigated include: clinical efficiency, or quality of services economic (cost) efficiency, social efficiency, or staff satisfaction and involvement, patient satisfaction, and responsiveness to community expectations. These major criteria of effectiveness will be systematically related to one another and to differences in the organization and problem-solving practices (in key areas such as resource allocation, coordination, goal priorities, adaptation to environment) of hospital emergency units. Effectiveness is being studied simultaneously from the perspectives of: emergency unit physicians and RN's (i.e., the "performers"), medical peers in the rest of the hospital, key administrators, patients, and selected community respondents. Over 1,500 individuals in the these groups from a probability sample of hospitals have provided data. Data from hospital and patient records and certain other sources also have been (or will be) obtained. In addition to its analytical and hypothesis-testing objectives, the project provides for a data-feedback substudy to facilitate use of the findings, a special analysis of emergency visit patient records, and a users' conference.